Griffin RoadDock for PSP Review

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Get some backseat action with your PSP.

By Gerry Block

The art of being a good host is rarely given the credit it deserves in our modern age. As a host it's your duty to ensure that your guests are comfortable and entertained. Back in the olden days this involved plying them with tea and biscuits. Now days you generally ply your company with other things, but the gist of the practice remains the same. If you're particularly caring, or maybe just do a lot of your entertaining in your car, you'll want to make sure your peeps in the back seat are happy too.

While the integrated headrest-LCD will certainly give your car a Pimp My Ride style of bling, the investment and the somewhat Boy Racer look that results might not be your thing. Fortunately, if you've got a PSP and need to keep your pals happy in the back seat, Griffin's RoadDock maybe just what you need.

The $29.99 mounting strap is a simple design that will strap a PSP onto just about any car headrest. The PSP bracket is able to rotate through 360 degrees so as to allow for a variety of mounting situations in case you're looping the strap horizontally rather than vertically, and also has a degree of tilt possible for getting a decent viewing angle. The bracket keeps a pretty firm grip on the PSP, and in our experience driving around Los Angels never lost its grip.

We were also happy to discover that the RoadDock is able to grip the PSP while Griffin's iTrip FM transmitter is attached. Space molded into the iTrip PSP allows the lower edge of the RoadDock to grip the PSP's body as it normally would, which is perfect. With the iTrip attached, passengers can watch UMDs or movies transferred to a Memory Stick Duo and rock the sound on the car's speakers, which can be necessary if your car tends to get a little noisy on the highway.

What would be really cool is if Griffin integrated the two devices, though this would obviously lead to a more expensive product. As things stand, however, the $29.99 RoadDock and the $49.99 iTrip aren't a cheap combo either. Still, most alternatives will cost even more, and at least you'll be able to get some double duty out of your PSP.